Chapter V: Growth and Development

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“The child should know no other endeavor but to be at every stage
of development wholly what this stage calls for. Then will each
successive stage spring like a new shoot from a healthy bud; and
at each successive stage he will with the same endeavor again
accomplish the requirements of this stage; for only the adequate
development of man at each preceding stage can effect and bring
about adequate development at each succeeding later stage.”

—F. FROEBEL.

Children do not grow and develop by any haphazard process. Too often parents have had so little, either of first-hand acquaintance with other children, recollection of their own childhood, or knowledge of the literature of child-study, that they have fumbled in the dark, misunderstanding and experimenting on their own children, without either standards for comparison or principles for guidance.

There is a wealth of material, both technical and popular, available in this “century of the child.” The impetus given to the study of the child by Pestalozzi and Froebel a century ago has gained increasing momentum in Europe and America. Some investigators have made laborious studies of large numbers of children to ascertain average rates and factors of growth or development of some part of the body or some phase of spirit. Others have made painstaking, intensive studies of individual children and have reported the characteristics observed at different ages.

The outlines, main features, and basal principles are already defined. A knowledge of these is as essential to the intelligent worker with children as a knowledge of the processes of plant growth and development to the intelligent agriculturist. Many blanks and gaps in our knowledge of child development are yet to be filled. The father, mother, teacher who is sympathetic with child nature, who has the scientific mind for accuracy, definiteness and persistence of observation, has an opportunity to contribute to the common fund of knowledge of child life by making original observations of the child in the home. Hitherto most of the published studies, both of groups and of individuals, have been made by men. Doctor G. Stanley Hall has been the pioneer leader and chief inspirer of the child-study movement in America. Doctor John Dewey’s contributions and inspirations have been both profound and extensive. Madame Montessori is the one woman who has made large contributions.

It should be noted that a science of child-study and development was not possible until the idea of evolution became known and appreciated. Froebel sensed this evolution, as will be noted in reading his “Education of Man”, which was published a quarter of a century before Darwin’s “Origin of Species.”

This phase of psychology—tracing the stages of mental development as an organic process from its simple beginnings in the individual or the race to its maturity in adulthood of the individual or civilization of the race—is the field of genetic psychology.

The intelligent worker with children in the home must be acquainted with what is normal and usual at any stage, in child anatomy, physiology, and psychology. Only with such knowledge is it possible to make intelligent observations of the development of the individual child, and to supply a normal environment and guidance suited to his stage of development. Such knowledge and preparation can be acquired only through study of the literature of child psychology, and through intensive, first-hand acquaintance with children.

It requires about twenty-five years for nature to bring a human individual from birth to physiological maturity. In the nine months before birth the growth and development is very rapid. All the organs are formed, but their development at birth is immature, especially the development of the nervous system. What is accomplished in these years?

From Birth to Maturity

Total weight increases from 16 to 22 fold.
Length of body ” 3 fold
Size of muscles ” 37 ”
Size of lungs ” 18 ”
Size of heart ” 13 ”
Size of brain ” 3 ”
Weight of arm ” 4 ”
Weight of leg ” 5 ”

Note the great differences in increase of different parts of the body.

=At Birth= =At Maturity (25 years)=

Stomach undeveloped Complete digestive development
Few digestive juices All
No provision for digesting Digestion of all food elements,
starch until 8 or 9 months; including solids
fats (except cream); protein
(except curds of milk); solid
food
No teeth cut Two sets of teeth cut
Sense organs: incomplete Senses fully developed
development, especially Fine sense discrimination
sight and hearing
Reproductive system rudimentary Reproductive system mature
Nerve cells undeveloped Nervous system complex and
Few association fibers formed developed
Medullary sheath not formed
Motor ability limited to crying, Motor coördination of all muscles,
grasping, reflex movements including accessory eye
of arms and legs and finger muscles
Mental ability limited to few Concentration, imagination,
vague, unlocated sensations, judgment, speech, all well
slight motor memory developed
Language only a cry or instinctive Fluent use of language
movements of head, arms, legs
Emotions limited to slight Wide range of emotions, potentially
pleasure-pain; no control controlled and expressed
Volition rudimentary Will power to achieve any purpose
Social, moral, religious instincts Sense of law and property rights
undeveloped Social coöperation
Moral standards, judgments,
and habits
Religious feeling and action

After twenty-five years there is sometimes a slight increase in height and weight; plasticity is slight; new habits are not readily formed; new ideas not readily accepted. The nervous system is capable of continued development.

There are a few foundation facts and principles that should be summarized before taking up in detail the stages of growth and development.

The child is not a small edition of an adult. His anatomical proportions, his physiological processes, his ways of thought and of thinking, his motives, interests, likes, emotions, methods of expression, are all different from the adult’s; and they are all different at different stages in his development.

The child lives through (recapitulates) in a general way the main stages and order of physical and psychological development that organic life and the race have passed through in the countless ages since life began. Starting as a one-celled creature, he recapitulates in the nine months of embryonic life the processes of evolution that required millions of years, from the amœba to the higher vertebrates, in the evolution of the species.

At birth the baby is less developed and more plastic than the young of any other creature at its birth. This helplessness and plasticity are due to the incompleteness in development of the nervous system. It is because of this incompleteness that the physical, mental, and spiritual life can be shaped in great measure by environment. It is this incompleteness that provides both the opportunity and the responsibility of parents and guardians.

For normal development there must be both the growth principle and power within the individual, and the growth stimulus and materials supplied by the environment.

The rate and nature of growth and development are influenced by two factors: (1) heredity (race, family); (2) environment (climate, social status, economic resources, city or country, materialistic or idealistic atmosphere, commonplace or cultured, ugly or beautiful, expressive or repressive, guiding or neglectful).

Growth and development are two different processes. Growth is increase in size; development is increase in power of function. This principle holds true for every muscle, every nerve, every special organ, every brain center.

Growth is a vegetative process, dependent upon intake of nutrition and elimination of waste. Development is dependent upon use, which involves the exercise of the organ or system and of the related brain center, and this leads to both (a) the initial use of mind and (b) mental development.

Each organ, each physiological system or process, each mental process, is controlled by its own definite nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. By exercise of the specific organ or system, the corresponding nerve center is developed; and the development of the nerve center makes possible a more adequate and perfect use of the specific organ or system.

During the growth stage of any part, exercise of the part is not normal but injurious. When sufficient growth has been attained for development to begin, there is an instinctive desire or hunger for exercise of the part. This desire is manifested by the natural, spontaneous activity or interest of the child. For example, during some ten or twelve months the muscles of the legs and back, and corresponding nerve centers in the spinal cord and the brain, are growing. When their growth is attained, these muscles and nerve centers begin to function in the process of standing and walking, and the child makes every effort to walk. To put him on his feet and attempt to teach him before this stage, is to strain unprepared organs, bones, muscles, and nerves. To keep him lying in a vehicle so he cannot exercise when he spontaneously attempts to walk, is to retard or prevent this natural development.

The process of growth and development is not uniform during childhood; neither do all the parts grow and develop at the same time. Growth is periodic and by parts; it is variable for each part or system. There are periods of slow or rapid growth and development at different ages.

Development begins first for the oldest (racially) muscles and parts, and for those that are being used reflexly, that is, arms, legs, trunk, hands, which are known as the fundamental muscles. The finer, accessory muscles and their brain centers do not develop completely until several years after birth.

There are no average children. Every child is somewhat different. In rate of growth, children may normally vary one to two years from the average. In individual children, some factors at any stage will normally be more marked than others. Distinction must therefore be made between (1) chronological age, (2) physiological age, and (3) psychological age. The standards for (2) and (3) are at present the subject of special researches. Physiological age refers to such factors as dentition, development of bones, height, weight, sex maturity. Psychological age refers to mental ability and maturity.

In some children the hereditary force of a specific characteristic is stronger than in other children. Or the environment of one child gives greater stimulus to an instinct at its nascent (beginning) period, and greater opportunity for its use.

The individual who lives most completely in each stage the life normal to that stage, is best prepared for the succeeding stages of life.

To attempt to hurry a child through this process or to permit an arrest of development in any stage or at any point, is to seriously handicap the child’s normal and complete development. Infant prodigies and infantile youths are both abnormal.

In each stage there are some instincts to be especially fostered, some that need encouragement or stimulation, some that require careful direction into useful channels, some to be ignored as only transitory, and a few that may need inhibiting.

The following group of stages has been prepared as possibly most helpful for guidance of parents and teachers in the home. The transition from one stage to another is gradual.

In so brief a summary as the following, only a few of the most significant items can be presented, and these typical of the average. This is not a form into which every child must be expected to fit. Rather it is a suggestion of the usual, which the individual normal child will approximate in general. It presents a method for recording the development of the individual child.

Infancy

Birth to 2-3 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Rapid growth, especially of brain
First dentition
Nervous system rapidly developing
Association fibers developing between spinal centers and brain centers
Bones, nervous system plastic
Rapid heat radiation
Rapid pulse, respiration
Tissues flabby
Low vitality
Motor and sensory development rapid
Motor coördinations developing rapidly
Speech develops

Interest in pure motor activity, and sensory experiences
Thinking exceeds power of expression
All mental processes developing
Curiosity about everything seen, handled, heard
Perceptions crude, few
Unconsciously imitative
Activity an end in itself
Imagination crude, vague
Reasons by association of circumstances

Emotions crude, uncontrolled
Fear of noises and strange objects
Humor in surprise

Social dependence
Little self-control
Obedience
Trust

Early Childhood

2-3 to 6-7 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Rapid growth
Nervous system rapidly developing
Rapid growth of brain until 7 yrs.
Fundamental muscles utilized
Accessory muscles immature

Activity its own end
Experiments in motor control

Greatest sensory development and efficiency
Curiosity, analysis, investigation, experimentation strong
Interest in simple construction
Constructs for use

Thought concrete
Suggestibility
Continued plasticity
Attention flitting
Asks “What?” “Why?”
Memory for words
Æsthetic tastes crude
Frankness
Crude experience and association of ideas

Vivid, concrete imagination; images distorted
Imitation at its strongest
Imitative dramatic play
Humor in incongruity
Curiosity regarding sex biology
Sex feeling undeveloped
Emotions strong, slight control
Imaginary fears
Self-control weak
Selfish, thoughtless
Respect for parents
Wonder at universe
Obedience
Personification of nature
Conscience begins

Infancy and Early Childhood

Birth to 6 Years

Foster:

Sensory and motor activity
Trustfulness
Curiosity
Investigation
Acquaintance with world of realities
Initiative
Wide range of interests
Fanciful imagination
Formation of permanent habits
Sense of wonder

Cultivate:

Regularity
Respect for authority
Concentration
Thoughtfulness for others
Courtesy
Emotional control
Permanent moral prejudices
Thrift

Inhibit, or Overcome:

Social dependence
Fear
Selfishness

Reckon with:

Slow mental adjustment

Motor awkwardness

Misunderstanding of instructions

Mischief, which is the result of an abundance of vitality,
initiative, sense of humor, investigating spirit; it is not
something to condemn, but for which to provide natural environment.

Rudeness, which is due to childish frankness, democracy,
thoughtlessness, examples of discourtesy.

Curiosity regarding biology of sex, to be answered honestly but
poetically under three years and biologically after three.

Telling of falsehoods, from 3 to 7 years of age, frequently due to
the vivid, imaginative life that the child is living, his relative
inexperience with the world of realities, and the difficulty,
therefore, of keeping the distinction clear between the two.

Later Childhood

6-7 to 9-10 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Growth progressing
Differences in growth rate of boys and girls
Second dentition
Sensory and motor activities prominent
Heart and lungs relatively small
Brain growing slowly, attains adult size
Eye development still incomplete: near sight

Finger movements stronger, more precise
Rapid increase in motor control
Forearm and finger control develops
Manual skill easily acquired

Interest in workmanship
Ideals exceed ability
Plasticity to habit
Receptivity
Routine easy
Experimentation, exploration strong
Interest in variety
Actions not well coördinated
Lack of perseverance
Easily discouraged
Adjustment to realities
Images truer to reality
Memory strong for concrete
Period of imaginative activity
Less direct imitation
Imitative and imaginative dramatic play
Emotions becoming controlled
Fears strong
Self-control vacillating
Humor in puns, riddles

Appreciation of rules in game
Beginning of social sense in group play
Slight sense of property rights
Slight conscience
Interest in religious forms (imitative)

Foster:

Exploration
Experimentation
Moral habits
Imaginative play
Variety of interests
Doll interest
Motor coördinations—skating, dancing, swimming

Cultivate:

Power of voluntary attention
Self-control
Initiative
Modesty
Conventional courtesies
Respect for property rights

Inhibit:

Cruelty
Fears

Reckon with:

Fatigue, due to bodily conditions
Discouragement, from greater increase in ideals than in
technical ability

Youth

Girls, 9 to 12-14 Years

Boys, 9 to 14-16 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Slower growth
Period of transition
Practical adjustment
Reproductive organs maturing
Period of low morbidity
Heart and lungs relatively small

Great motor activity
Reactions vigorous
Resistance to fatigue
Immunity to exposure, danger,
temptation
Senses acute
New adjustments and coördinations readily made
Routine and rote enjoyed
Motor skill easily acquired
Keen interest in workmanship and motor skill
Constructs for concrete purposes or use

Mental action better controlled, more connected, orderly
Memory quick, sure, lasting
More critical
Sex consciousness develops

Emotions weaker
Fear increases
Teasing other children

Less submissive to elders
Competitive sense increases
Conscience weak
Reverence weaker
Religious indifference

Foster:

Muscular activity
Motor and manual skill
Drill, memorizing
Routine, discipline
Three R’s.
Responsibility

Cultivate:

Fine handwork
Thoroughness
Reserve (in girls)
Chivalry (in boys)
Confidence in parents

Inhibit:

Athletic competition (too great strain on heart)
Fear

Reckon with:

Less confidence in adults
Group interest
Secretiveness

Adolescence

Girls, 12 to 18 Years

Boys, 13 to 21 Years

Marked Characteristics:

Rapid growth and development
Proportions changing
Lungs, heart increase in size and function
Blood pressure increases
Muscular strength increases
Voice changes
Awkwardness
Senses keen

Craving for larger experience
Routine irksome
Power of concentration
Abstract thought
Independent thought
Mental speculation
Larger mental perspective
Memory strong, includes abstract
Abstract reasoning
Debating
Imagination strong, comprehensive
Original thought and action
Organized dramatics
Individuality increases
Works for remote ends

Restive of restraint
Sex feelings increase
Romantic interest strong
Social sympathy increases
Social coöperation
Subject to moods
Shyness and bashfulness

Conscience keener or very callous
Sense of duty develops
Spirit of social service or rowdyism
Religious feeling
Conversion period
Criminal period
Idealism
Hero-worship

Foster:

Idealism

Hero-worship
Altruism
Religious feeling
Group interest; team work
Leadership, individuality
Reasoning, debating
Constructive imagination
Athletics; physical activity

Cultivate:

Sense of reality
Emotional poise
Responsibility
Strength of will
Mutual sympathy (parent and youth)
Variety of interests
Vocational choice
Outdoor life

Inhibit:

Depression and pessimism
Finicalness
Recklessness

Reckon with:

Emotional upheaval
Philosophical speculation
Sex interest
Awkwardness, bashfulness
Self-consciousness
Reserve with family

Development of Language

Children vary naturally, and according to their environment, in the rate of development in use of language. Any effort to hasten the process of talking or vocabulary during the first four or five years is an artificial forcing that is more likely to retard development. The following represents all that should be expected of a normal child.

First six months: crying, gesture language

Second six months: babbling, imitation of sounds, gesture language

One year: three to ten words

One to two years: vocabulary of 100 to 500 words; two-word sentences

Two to three years: 500 to 1500 new words; begins use of pronouns

Three to four years: 500 new words; complete sentences

Four to five years: articulation nearly perfect; interest in rhyming

Five to six years: articulation perfect; inflection of nouns and
verbs nearly perfect; interest in nonsense words; use of drawing

Six to nine years: grammar usually correct; interest in puns and in
secret language; use of drawing as language expression; imitative
interest in symbols of language (alphabet, reading, writing)

Nine to twelve years: genuine interest in language symbols; easily
learns reading and writing; with limited vocabulary, slang develops

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The tables of physical characteristics are based upon the work of
Vierordt, Uffelmann, Schmid-Monnard, Pfaundler and Schlossmann.
Holt, Kerley; the tables of mental characteristics upon the
studies of G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, Earl Barnes, and their
disciples, and the summaries of Kirkpatrick, Tanner, Taylor,
Tracy. The author’s personal experience with children, as a
medium for developing these data into a composite grouping, has
been supplemented by the criticisms and suggestions of individual
physicians, biologists, and psychologists. The subject deserves
much additional research in the comparative study of children.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Based on U. S. Census Report for 1913; causes arranged in decreasing rank.

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The mothercraft manualChapter V: Growth and Development

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